After Breaking the Ice-Beauty's Heart - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: But This One Day, She Couldn’t Forget.

Page after page was torn from the calendar, and time flowed by, leaving only hurried people who rushed through it, lamented it, and cursed it.

And then there were people who cherished time.

Like Zhou Nianzhi.

She didn’t blame time; instead, she ran hard to keep up with its pace. She ran and ran until she reached May 30th. Even though running helped to scatter her thoughts and leave them in the forgotten corners of her mind, this one particular day, she couldn’t forget.

May 30th.

Song Yuli’s birthday.

A birthday gives an ordinary day a special meaning. As the years go by, you’re fortunate to welcome a new beginning on the day you were born.

From the moment Zhou Nianzhi woke up that morning, she was torn and hesitant.

Even as she walked down the street, two little figures in her head were constantly arguing in her ear.

Figure #1: “Go on, go. It’s just a birthday. Song Yuli has given you so many gifts.”

From their second year of high school until college, Zhou Nianzhi always received a carefully prepared gift from Song Yuli on her birthday.

The first year, a book of poetry.

The second year, a complete set of study guides.

The third year, a beautiful dress.

The fourth year, cosmetics.

The fifth year, a guitar.

The sixth year… freedom.

At this thought, Zhou Nianzhi lowered her head, feeling a little dejected.

Figure #2: “It’s not like we didn’t give Song Yuli gifts! Besides, we’re a terrible, ruthless, and heartless ex now! Don’t bother her anymore!”

Zhou Nianzhi pursed her lips. Although what Figure #2 said was reasonable, she didn’t have to be so harsh on herself…

She was persuaded. She shook her head. Given her current situation, it was best not to disturb her.

Figure #1 took a deep breath and played their trump card: “Can’t you… can’t we bear to see Song Yuli eating instant noodles by herself on her birthday again?”

Zhou Nianzhi’s steps faltered, and her heart ached.

Three years ago today, they hadn’t broken up yet. Zhou Nianzhi’s competition ran into some last-minute issues, and she couldn’t leave. She had to tell Song Yuli to celebrate her birthday without her for now and that they would meet up as soon as she was done.

Song Yuli promised she would.

But then the competition issues were resolved earlier than expected. Zhou Nianzhi didn’t tell Song Yuli, wanting to surprise her. When she arrived, however, she found Song Yuli busy at her part-time restaurant job. She didn’t rush to meet her but instead watched from a distance.

She watched Song Yuli, wearing a dark blue T-shirt, hurrying back and forth, even wiping away sweat in a race against time.

She watched Song Yuli walk into a supermarket and buy a cup of instant noodles.

Seeing this, Zhou Nianzhi gasped.

The restaurant boss casually asked, “Are you eating instant noodles again tonight when you get home?”

Song Yuli nodded.

Fine beads of sweat slid from her forehead to her chin, swaying with the motion of her nod.

The sweat drop fell.

And with it, Zhou Nianzhi’s tears.

Zhou Nianzhi only ran over to Song Yuli after she finished her shift.

Seeing her beloved, the long-exhausted Song Yuli instantly regained her energy. But before she showed her delight, she subtly hid the instant noodles behind her back.

Catching this detail, Zhou Nianzhi’s tears, which she had just held back, started to fall again. She sobbed as she reached out and took the instant noodles from Song Yuli, muttering, “You promised me you would have a nice birthday…”

Song Yuli raised a hand to wipe Zhou Nianzhi’s tears. She simply couldn’t stand to see her Zhizhi cry. Her voice trembled with heartache: “Zhizhi, be good, don’t cry. I am having a nice birthday.”

“Where’s the big cake?” Zhou Nianzhi hiccupped, holding up the instant noodles. “Where are your friends? Why is there only this instant noodle? How can you eat instant noodles on your birthday…”

Seeing that Zhou Nianzhi was still crying, Song Yuli smiled faintly and teased, “If you talk about instant noodles like that, they’ll get angry, you know.”

Zhou Nianzhi grew flustered, lightly stomping her foot and shaking her shoulders. “It’s a serious matter, and you’re still laughing.”

“Zhizhi, you can always laugh,” Song Yuli said, taking out a tissue from her bag and handing it to Zhou Nianzhi. “Wipe your face. You’re crying as if I bullied you.”

Zhou Nianzhi reluctantly took the tissue and wiped away her tears and snot. The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt. She turned her head away, no longer looking at Song Yuli, and said, “You did bully me! You promised you’d celebrate your birthday properly!”

Song Yuli walked toward the direction Zhou Nianzhi had turned, leaned down slightly, and stared intently at the wronged Zhou Nianzhi’s face, poking her red cheeks, her little mouth that refused to speak, and her eyes, where tears were still swirling, ready to fall and form an ocean.

“I had lunch at my part-time job. It was pretty good.”

“That’s not enough!”

“My dorm mates and I agreed to have a meal together in a couple of days.”

“That’s not enough!”

Zhou Nianzhi kept shaking her head, very stubbornly: “You need to do something that makes you very, very happy, go have fun, eat good food, go…”

Before she could finish, Zhou Nianzhi felt a warmth on her lips.

When she wasn’t paying attention, Song Yuli gently placed a kiss on her lips, a kiss filled with the bitterness of longing and the joy of seeing her.

Zhou Nianzhi, after being kissed, covered her mouth and looked around. Seeing that the area was sparsely populated and there were few pedestrians, she knew no one had noticed them.

Just as she was still dazed by the sudden kiss, Song Yuli’s tone became doting, and she laughed, “What just happened is something that makes me very, very happy. If I could receive this birthday gift every year, I would look forward to the next year’s arrival all the time.”

Hearing this, Zhou Nianzhi curved her lips and leaned in again: “In that case, I’ll make you happy for a little longer.”

“What are you thinking, girl, to be so happy!”

This sentence cut through the memory, bringing Zhou Nianzhi back to reality.

Zhou Nianzhi snapped back to the present and realized that the auntie selling vegetables in front of her was smiling broadly, her eyes fixed on her. Perhaps seeing that she hadn’t answered, she continued to ask, “You’ve been looking at this cabbage for ages. Which one do you want?”

Whenever she thought deeply, she would subconsciously raise her hand to her lips, but this time, as if she had received a shock, she quickly lowered it.

Zhou Nianzhi awkwardly twitched her lips. She really wanted to explain to the auntie that she had just zoned out and that’s why she had been standing there for so long. But then she thought, who would believe that someone would stare at a single cabbage for so long just from being lost in thought?

“This one. Can you weigh it for me?” Since she was already there, Zhou Nianzhi picked one and bought it. It was food, after all, so it wouldn’t be a loss to take it home.

It was just strange that when she was thinking of Song Yuli, a big cabbage was right in front of her.

This made her think of a saying…

Zhou Nianzhi, carrying the cabbage, bought a few more items, finished her grocery shopping for the day’s meals, and started walking back.

She passed a cake shop.

Zhou Nianzhi’s steps paused slightly. She glanced inside, swallowed, then hardened her heart and continued walking.

She passed another cake shop.

Zhou Nianzhi’s pace slowed. Her gaze swept over the cake shop, she sighed softly, and still, she kept walking.

There was actually a third cake shop.

Why had she never noticed so many cake shops on this route before?!

Zhou Nianzhi stopped completely, standing at the storefront and looking at the display. Unconsciously, she began to pick one out.

This one is nice; the color is one Song Yuli likes.

The style is good, too. The decorations also look like something Song Yuli would like.

The cream doesn’t look too heavy, and there are many types of fruit. Song Yuli likes to eat the cake itself, and Zhou Nianzhi likes to eat the fruit.

Hmm, this one is a good choice.

Zhou Nianzhi almost walked into the shop to place an order.

Suddenly, the foot she was about to step inside with hung in the air.

Wait, something wasn’t right.

Was she really going to get a birthday cake for Song Yuli?

No, no, she couldn’t do that.

Zhou Nianzhi put her foot down, carried her groceries, and turned to walk away.

Three minutes later, inside the cake shop.

“Miss, for two people, a six-inch cake is just right.”

Zhou Nianzhi nodded. After the employee left, she lightly touched her forehead, feeling a mix of regret and relief. A jumble of emotions was all mixed up. Instead of agonizing over it and getting annoyed, she decided to just let go and come back to where she had started.

“Miss, when will you come to pick it up?” the employee called out.

Zhou Nianzhi paid and said, “I’ll come around five in the afternoon.”

She had just checked the weather forecast and looked up at the sky. It seemed like it was going to rain again this afternoon. She wouldn’t be able to set up her stall, so she might as well stay home and edit her videos, and take the cake to Song Yuli at the same time.

On her way home, Zhou Nianzhi kept thinking that if Song Yuli were to ask, she would say it was just a thank you gift for helping her with the umbrella and her things on that rainy day. That’s all. There was no other meaning. She absolutely must not overthink it.

After dropping off the groceries, Zhou Nianzhi went to talk with Sheng Ning at the hospital. After confirming that there were no major new problems, she came back, picked up the cake, and as she stepped out of the store, her heart began to pound.

Her heartbeat was amplified in the narrow, empty elevator.

“Beep—”

Suddenly, the elevator door opened, and a person walked in.

The situation was exactly the same as when she had run into Song Yuli in the elevator before.

Zhou Nianzhi was supposed to get out but didn’t dare to look up. She could only put the cake behind her and slowly tried to walk out of the elevator.

She finally understood how Song Yuli had felt when she hid the instant noodles all those years ago. The magic of time was that events from different moments could always connect.

“You…”

The person spoke up.

Zhou Nianzhi hadn’t expected Song Yuli to call out to her. Her body trembled, and in a moment of panic, she almost dropped the cake.

“Oh, you were startled. I just wanted to tell you that your floor hasn’t arrived yet. I’m going up, too.”

Zhou Nianzhi awkwardly looked up and saw the floor numbers on the elevator. It wasn’t her floor yet; someone else had just gotten in midway.

She turned her head back to the kind person and thanked them profusely. “Thank you. I didn’t even notice.”

It wasn’t Song Yuli at all.

“Celebrating a birthday?” the kind person asked.

Zhou Nianzhi nodded.

In the small elevator, Zhou Nianzhi could feel the person’s eyes on the cake. She thought to herself, maybe my act of hiding the cake made this kind person think I was afraid they would try to steal it.

How embarrassing.

The kind person asked, “Celebrating a birthday alone?”

Zhou Nianzhi replied a little stiffly, “Oh, something like that.”

But soon, a single sentence from the kind person made Zhou Nianzhi’s heart turn cold, to the point where she almost forgot her embarrassment.